A Second Amendment lawsuit being played out in Pennsylvania has all the earmarks of the kind of challenge that could make its way to the Supreme Court. It also illustrates the left’s attempt to set precedent at a local level that could radically undermine civil liberties throughout the state.
The lawsuit is called Firearms Owners Against Crime, Institute for Legislative, Legal, and Educational Action, Et Al. v. Lower Merion Township, and is filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Civil Division. The lawsuit paints the story of a liberal, small town bureaucracy attempting to harass, hinder and destroy a family-run business.
Grant Schmidt runs Shot Tec, LLC, a simulation based training provider in Lower Merion township. Mr. Schmidt worked in a professional capacity for many years as a mobile firearms instructor and then realized that he could better meet his customers’ needs by also becoming a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL) to help with the mandatory paperwork required under Pennsylvania law to purchase or transfer ownership of a firearm.
Mr. Schmidt decided to find a location where he could set up his business as both a simulation based training center (which has no live fire) and an FFL, and looked at locations that would be zoned appropriately for his business model. “I’m like a notary and our training space is like a large multimedia room,” says Schmidt. “I wanted to serve customers in the Lower Merion area which was essentially a ‘gun store desert’ at the time.”
Despite the relative simplicity of his business, zoning officials pushed back on his efforts to secure a lease in numerous locations.
Local zoning officials were essentially disenfranchising me through a financial war of attrition. In addition to ridiculous requests like asking me to calculate loads on the sewer system, officials would object based on vague concerns about ‘street people with guns’ that they wouldn’t define or put in writing. I quickly realized I was getting the runaround.
Mr. Schmidt continued to look at properties and applied for a permit at a medical office building, and was surprised when the town granted his request. He subsequently rented and operated his FFL out of the 100 square foot former medical exam room for about a year and then decided he wanted to expand his business at a larger property that was a former yoga studio.
The town initially denied his request based on a zoning technicality that wasn’t enforced on the previous tenant – it only had one parking spot. To mollify the town, Mr. Schmidt agreed to run his business by appointment only. The town acquiesced and granted him the permit. Only after putting out signage a few months later did an anti-gun, grassroots change.org petition gather momentum in an effort to get the town to revoke the permit, but it was already issued.
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As Mr. Schmidt’s two-year lease approached its end, it became clear the lessor did not intend to extend his renewal. But it was the nefarious “how” with which the town attempted to prevent the renewal that eventually spawned the lawsuit.
Town administrators assembled a committee that created an ordinance that seemed weaponized in particular against Mr. Schmidt’s legal and legitimate business. Ordinance 4267 illegally and maliciously amended the zoning Code of the town (Chapter 155) to:
- Define FFLs
- Limit the location of FFLs to four zoning districts
- Set forth limiting, conditional standards to operate in those districts
Under the new ordinance, the town denied Mr. Schmidt’s request for a new permit at two locations, effectively killing his business.
He believes the ordinance also clearly runs afoul of Pennsylvania state law. Pennsylvania’s Uniform Firearm Act’s preemption provision prevents any county, municipality or township from regulating the, “lawful ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.”
With no other options, Mr. Schmidt filed suit against the town on July 5, 2023. On July 31, a court order struck down items 4-12 but left items 1-3 in place. A March 20, 2024 court order allowed the lawsuit to move forward on the standing that the new ordinance is preempted under state law. Today, Mr. Schmidt is simultaneously appealing to a higher court while complying with the conditional use zoning process.
“In this situation, the punishment is the process. We would need a majority of commissioners to vote in our favor and they’ve already proven they are hostile to our legal business – this creates a de facto ban” says Schmidt, adding, “If every township ran with this precedent around the state, you’d see dark zones where people couldn’t buy guns because all purchases require transfer paperwork.”
It’s easy to see how the ordinance in Lower Merion township could easily turn into an anti-gun precedent used by any political subdivision which wanted to illegally exclude FFLs from operating.
“I believe the commissioners passed this intending to set a precedent throughout the state,” observed Mr. Schmidt.
Pennsylvania, which has generally been a conservative state, has been flipping blue on many issues since 2020, including its long-standing and generally relaxed position on firearms and concealed carry (see our coverage on a related topic here).
To add insult to injury, Mr. Schmidt’s business also operated as a highly vetted and certified “Hold My Guns” location, and was only the ninth location in the country to receive this prestigious distinction. Hold My Guns is a liberty-based nonprofit organization that partners with FFLs across the United States to provide voluntary firearms storage during times of crisis or personal need.
As this lawsuit is only in the beginning stages, we will continue to cover this story.
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Parts of ordinance the judge let stand
(1) No FFL shall be permitted to operate in or on the grounds of, or within 1,000 feet of the grounds of, a public, parochial or private school, unless the FFL can demonstrate compliance with 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), as amended.
(2) An FFL shall produce and keep on file with the Township a current copy of the applicable license or licenses issued by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, as well as any other required state, county, municipal, or administrative licenses or registrations, including but not limited to any required by the Pennsylvania State Police.
(3) An FFL shall identify any fictious name under which the FFL will operate, the street and mailing address for the business, and the business’s reasonable hours of operation.
Parts of ordinance the judge struck down
(4) For any doors and windows which are directly accessible from any public space, such as a street, alley or sidewalk, or from any common area, such as a lobby or shared hallway, an FFL shall install and maintain smash-resistant doors and windows.
(5) An FFL shall install and maintain a general alarm system which provides glass protection, interior motion sensors, door and access panel contact monitoring, and a panic button.
(6) An FFL shall install and maintain an internal video surveillance system.
(7) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan demonstrating compliance with all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting the sale of firearms, ammunition, or destructive devices to certain individuals, including but not limited to those restrictions contained in 18 U.S.C. § 922(b), as amended.
(8) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan demonstrating compliance with all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting the selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of a firearm without conducting a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check for every transfer of a firearm to a nonlicensee unless the transferee qualifies for one of the exceptions listed in 18 U.S.C. § 922(t), as amended.
(9) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan demonstrating compliance with all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting the selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of a firearm to a person who is not the actual buyer or transferee of the subject firearm; is otherwise prohibited by law from receiving or possessing firearms or ammunition; and/or is not a lawful resident of Pennsylvania.
(10) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan to ensure that all required firearms transaction records required by federal and state law are completed for every transfer of a firearm to a nonlicensee.
(11) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan to ensure that each missing, lost, or stolen firearm from the FFL’s inventory or collection is reported to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives within 48 hours of discovery of the loss or theft.
(12) An FFL shall provide and maintain an operational safety plan to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations related to record retention, including but not limited to 27 CFR 478.129, as amended.
